Trials of Life: part 3, Amanda
by bluegoldrose
Summary: [ended but incomplete] A CSI comes to the lab on the case of a serial killer, who in 1986, killed Catherine's friend Stephanie Watson. continues the story from the previous sections and GSR
1. Default Chapter

**Important:**The story lines from the previous two parts are continuing, but slowly right now, so please be patient.this is also the begining of a Grissom/Sara Romance, so hang on for a wild ride.

I didn't put the time period in the other two parts, and it kinda matters so here it is:

Internal Affairs:mid-February

Offspring: mid-April

Amanda: End of May - Early June

* * *

She was sitting in Ecklie's office. He was saying how honored he was to have her there, the most well known CSI from LA. She smiled; she was so tired of people saying that. She had explained to him why she was there. He of course, was pleased to oblige her. 

She was working on a serial case. It was connected to LA, Chicago, her old home Philadelphia, and Vegas. There was a pattern in the cases; they rotated between the cities in a west to east loop.

From the pattern that she had figured out, LA was not originally one of the cities in his loop.

She had encountered the pattern in Philadelphia in 1997 and in Los Angeles in 1999 and 2004. The next city in the pattern was Las Vegas.

The first killing had been all the way back in 1986, in Vegas. The victim had been Stephanie Watson, a friend of Catherine Willow's. The next two years, he had killed strippers in both Chicago and Philadelphia. He took a year off, and then repeated the same three-year pattern. In 1994, he changed his pattern; Los Angeles was added to the cities he struck. Other than that, the pattern was constant; he killed in the consecutive cities for consecutive years, and then he took a year off. In 2004, his newest cycle began.

When she had encountered the case again in LA, she called her former co-workers in Philadelphia, to look back at the files. Then she started to look into the DNA databanks across the country. Then she began to see the pattern emerge.

The victims had all been strippers, and in each city, they were always taken from the same clubs. The methods by which they were tortured and killed escalated with each cycle of killings. That's why he took the year off, to change his pattern, to escalate the viciousness of the crime.

The first three victims were all stabbed to death. The next three were tortured for a day, and then stabbed to death.

The following four were tortured for two days, beaten and then stabbed to death. The four after that were treated the same way as the previous ones, but they were more brutally treated. They were stabbed, but not to death, it was a method of torture. He would slice their skin, causing them immense pain, and blood loss, but not death. Then he raped them, and he shot them in the back of the head to kill them.

The one the year before was the worst though. She had been raped multiple times, and she had been the most brutalized.

Their bodies were found at various locations throughout the cities.

That's why Amanda Johnson was in Las Vegas, she was going there to try to stop this man from killing again.

She had looked into the personnel of the unit, and she had chosen her desired team, Sara Sidle and Greg Sanders. Ecklie was skeptical of the team, but he said all she had to do was to clear it with Grissom.

Now however, he was going on about what an honor it was to have her work there, even if it was for a short time. She was so glad that she didn't work there, she would never be able to put up with him.

She was, in truth, LA's star CSI. She was hard working and dedicated. She managed never to mess up, at least, she knew how not to get in trouble for it. She was just over 31, but she already had level 4 clearance, even though she was a level 3 CSI. She was also being groomed to become a supervisor in about 5 years.

She had graduated at 16, so all this use of her intelligence was to be expected. '_If only they knew about my past_,' she thought, although she never vocalized it.

Finally he let her go to see Grissom. She knocked lightly on his door, which was practically open. He looked up, and he told her to come in. So she came in and took a seat.

"My name is Amanda Johnson, I just came from Ecklie to see you. I'm working on a serial killer and rapist case, which ties to Vegas. I've come from LA with my information."

"Your coming had been mentioned to me. I'm pleased to meet you, your reputation precedes you."

She sighs, but smiles as well. "As does yours. I have chosen two members of your team to work with me. Ecklie has approved of them, but he said that I need to ask for your permission to use them."

"Alright, which two?"

"Sidle and Sanders."

He raises both eyebrows. "Are you certain?"

"That was exactly his reaction. Yes, I'm certain. I like what I've seen in their records. And even though Sanders is new, I think this would be a good case for him. They bot have a unique perspective on things, and I like that."

"Alright, you can have them. I'll get you set up in a room and I'll page them. Greg has just finished his last case, so he can be there right away. Sara is nearly done with hers, and she would hate me if I took her off a case."

"That's ok, right now, we're just going to do small things. As long as she can be there today, I don't have a problem."

He smiles and she reciprocates it, then they head off.

* * *

A little while later, Greg comes into the room. He sees Amanda sitting there. He is surprised at how young she looks. 

"Grissom paged me to meet someone here…"

She turns to face him. When she sees his face, she smiles. Then she stands and puts her hand out for him to shake it. "Yes, my name is Amanda Johnson. I'm here on a special case. I have the files in my car. The rest of it should arrive tomorrow. We can get those and then we can get the information from storage here."

"Alright."

They start to go down the hall, and Greg says, "You know, Sara wasn't happy when she got that page."

"I figured, she'll be happier when she starts the case though."

He looks at her incredulously. "Are you certain?"

She smiles brightly again, "Trust me."


	2. 2

On the way to her car, she told him about the case. Within half an hour, all of the evidence was lying on a lab table. The two of them were discussing different things about the case and their lives. He left for a little while to get a cup of coffee. When he returned, Amanda was singing softly.

"…these tears we cry, are foolish things. Take care the lies, the hurt the pain…"

"You have a beautiful voice. What's that from?"

She giggled slightly. "It's from The Lord of the Rings: the Two Towers. Thank you. A lot of people say that I have a nice voice, I don't believe them."

"You should."

They smiled at each other, then she got serious again.

"Back to the case. About 19 years ago, Stephanie Watson was murdered here in Vegas."

"Yeah, I remember it; Catherine reopened it about three years ago. I did the DNA on it. It exonerated one guy, and a crooked cop was put in jail for falsifying evidence. The DNA didn't match anyone though." He picked up the bagged knife and smirked. "That's where I took the sample."

She smiled again. "You used to be a lab rat?"

"Hey, be nice, without the lab work our job wouldn't be as effective." He said in mock defensiveness.

"I know," she laughed. "I used to work in a lab too. When I was younger in Philadelphia."

"I was raised in New York, that's not too far away."

"I know, I went to college in New York. I started to work in the lab in Philly when I was 21. I started to work as a CSI when I was 23. I wanted to start earlier, but I wasn't allowed to."

"Wow, that's really young, how old were you when you graduated from high school?"

"16"

His eyes widened a little. "I didn't graduate until I was 18, that's so unfair. What level CSI are you?"

"I'm a level 3 with level 4 clearance. So basically I'm treated like a supervisor. And for your next question, I'm 31, I'm a year older than you."

"What are you, a genius or something?"

"I'm what is known as a child prodigy," she rolled her eyes. "Actually, I was placed in a school, where I could work ahead and graduate early. I make it through the equivalent of three years worth of work in one year."

"How did you manage that?"

"I'm a workaholic, I applied myself to the work, and not much else. I made a lousy friend, but I was the smartest kid in school. I was too advanced for their causes, and I did similarly well in college."

"You sound a lot like Sara. I bet your parents are proud of you."

Her expression darkened. "I'm adopted. Originally, I was a foster child, but I became very close to this family, and they managed to get my mom to give up her parental rights, and to allow the Johnson's to adopt me. So now I have three sisters and two brothers, although one is dead. But they are proud of me."

"Why were you in foster care, or is it none of my business?"

"It's a long story, right now I'd rather focus on the case."

He nodded. Then they got back to work. After several hours of working, planing, and flirting, Sara finally showed up.

"Sorry I'm late, I was finishing up a case."

"That's ok," Amanda replied. "Have a seat, I'll explain the whole case to you."

So she did and they decided that Catherine might be helpful, so Greg headed off to get her.

Looking down at her work, Amanda said, "You haven't called in awhile."

Amanda looked up, Sara met her gaze.

"I was busy, you should know that."

"Come on, you were too busy to either call, write, or e-mail me? I know you're busy, so am I, but to have a relationship with someone takes effort."

"I know. I'm sorry ok?"

"Yeah, it's alright. There's nothing to forgive."

"You don't have to act like that."

"Like what?"

"Like it doesn't bother you when it really does."

"Fine, it bothers me. It bothers me that the only blood relative that I have doesn't care that I'm alive." Amanda wasn't happy.

"I care about you Manda, really I do. And just because I get preoccupied doesn't mean I don't care…"

"It just means you don't want to remember," Amanda finished. "I don't want to remember either. But we haven't spoken in three years, and the last time you wrote to me was last year. We're sisters Sara. We've been through so much together. I need you in my life."

"I need you too. But every time I see you I remember what happened. Every time I look in the mirror I see our mother's face. Every time I close my eyes I see what happened. It has scarred me, and when ever I try to move past it something draws me back to it."

"You think you're scarred, look at my neck." She pushed her hair back from her neck, revealing a deep scar. "You may look like our mother, but all of your scars are internal. You don't have such an obvious one… You're happier though, than when I saw you last. Yet in another sense you are sadder. Which tells me that someone knows about our past and that you still have no luck where love is concerned."

"You're right…" Sara was about to say more, when she realized that Greg was standing at the door. Amanda saw it too. Both of them looked worried and angry.

"How much of that did you hear?" Sara demanded.

"Enough to know that you're sisters and that I don't know much about your life." Greg responded worriedly.

"Greg, you can't tell anyone," Amanda pleaded. "If anyone finds out that we're sisters we won't be able to work together…How much does it take to bribe you to stay quiet?"

"Well…"

"What about dinner with me paying?" Amanda asked.

"That works, I think that can be called a bribe." He smiled.

Amanda sighed, and then smiled looking very relieved. Sara on the other hand was still uncertain.

"Manda, are you certain?"

"Sara, it's fine…Plus he doesn't want to know what I would do if he breaks the bribe." Amanda's expression was mischievous.

Greg looked worried for a brief moment, but he shrugged it off. "Cath's coming in a few minutes. She's more than willing to help."

Amanda and Sara both smiled.

"You two don't look alike."

"I look more like our mother, our brother looked more like our father, Amanda here looks a little like both. She has the dark hair, but the light eyes, our brother had the light hair and eyes."

"Oh. You know, you guys have a lot in common. You smile alike, you're both hard working criminalists, you're both beautiful…"

"Greg, it's one thing to flirt with one of us, it's another to flirt with both of us at the same time." Sara said, cutting him off.

They were silent for a few moments, and then Catherine came in.

"Greg told me about some of the case. He said that you wanted me to help."

Amanda got up from a chair and introduced herself to Catherine. Then they all took seats as again the case was explained.

"I'm glad that you invited me along, I want to help in any way possible." Catherine said.

"Good…Now is the part where I tell you my plan. It has been approved by my supervisor in LA, and by the police here. I have Ecklie's permission to do as I see fit here…I want someone to go under cover."

"One of us?" Catherine said doubtfully.

"Well, since you have a daughter to protect, I'm not recommending you."

"That's fair, which leaves you and Sara." Catherine said, looking between the two women.

"I'll do it," Sara quickly replied.

"Sara…"

"Look Amanda, I can do this. Plus I know the city, you don't."

Amanda sighed. "Fine. You'll need to be taught how to strip." She looked to Catherine as she said this.

"I'll teach you. Come on, we have a club to go to."

So the two of them got up and left. Amanda started to straighten up the evidence. Greg followed suit. Once the room was neater, they left the room. Amanda locked the door with a key that Grissom had given her.

Then she turned to Greg and smiled. "Hey Greg, do you want to go out now?"

"Sure, there's a nice place that I know. You could follow me in your car, while I lead."

Again, she smiled at him, and he smiled back. They headed off for the restaurant.


End file.
